Quick Home Dec Project

One of my former students recently crossed Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.  As a gift, I made him some appliqued pillowcases.  Now I've made pillowcases before, but I've never appliqued anything.  Sure I could have scoured the interwebs for Greek letter patches, but then that would have required me to...um...scour the interwebs.  It's funny how laziness works.  I didn't feel like searching the net, so I made my own letters - which took far more work and a subsequent scouring of said webs for information on how to applique.  Hah.  I amuse me.  

I actually found this whole process kinda fun.  I learned how to use fusible web and freezer paper to create the letters as well as attach them to the hem band using a satin stitch. 

First I fused the web to the back of the fabric out of which the letters were to be cut.
 

After printing and  then tracing the letters onto freezer paper, I pressed the freezer paper onto the fabric.  Sidebar:  why has no one ever told me about freezer paper??  This stuff is amazing!  It is so easy to work with and does not damage the fabric.  I am in applique heaven.  Well, not really.  But you get the point.

The photo below shows a couple of letters already cut out and re-fused to the fabric.  Yes.  You can reuse the freezer paper!  Genius!

Here are the letters ready for fusing to the hem band.

Next, I peeled away the paper backing and pressed the letters onto the hem band.

 

I included both the letters and his line number.  Aww...  I'm so proud of the little runt.

So that was the "easy" part.  Next up was to apply the satin stitch around the edges.  This was brand new to me so I just winged it.  The best piece of advice I read online involved where to stop the needle when pivoting at an inside or outside edge.  If it's an outside edge, stop the needle on the right.  If it's an inside edge, stop the needle on the left.  By the time I got to the second pillow case, I had this down to a science.

Each pillow case has the letters and line numbers on both sides.  This way, the pillowcase body can experience even wear.  Also, the fabric is 100% cotton and should wash well.

I gave him the gift on Friday and he was quite hyped!  He is confident that he is the only Que with Omega pillowcases.  I told him it better stay that way, too!

Does this mean I'm getting into the Greek letter pillowcase business?  Probably not.  I rarely  sew for anyone else.  But he was a good student and always comes back to say hi, so I thought it would be a nice gesture to do this for him. 

Admittedly, this is why it took me longer to finish the jeans.  I stopped working on them after the semester ended to whip up this project.  Now that both the jeans and pillowcases are finished, I can move (and have moved) onto something else.

I have one more post to complete the jeans #9 series.  The post is written, I just need to snap some photos.  Until next time, peace!

L

Contouring a Waistband

A straight rectangular waistband is no good for a person with trunk junk.  The waistband will gap at the center back and cause unnecessary exposure.  To contour the waistband, I used the instructions provided by Jennifer Stern in her "Blueprints to Better Jeans" class on PR.  

1.  The first thing I did was draw the straight grainline since I don't cut my waistband on the bias.

2.  Align the waistband and bake yoke pieces at the center back.  2" from the center back, draw a vertical line from the top of the waistband to the bottom of the yoke.  Draw two or three more vertical lines 2 inches apart from the first one.  The number of lines you draw depends on the amount of width you plan to remove from the waistband. 

I just had a revelation about this method for this particular waistband!  I'll share it at the end of the post.

 

3.  I removed 4 inches of width altogether.  I drew four vertical lines and will dart out 1/2" at each line.  To do this, mark 1/4" on either side of each vertical line.  Since I worked with one-half of the waistband, the amount removed on this piece is 2 inches.

The marks are in blue. 

 4.  Draw a single line connecting the left mark with the bottom of the line on the back yoke.  Repeat for the right mark.  Do this for each of the vertical lines drawn.

 

5.  Finally, fold on the vertical line, overlap the dart edges, and tape in place.  Alternatively, you can cut on one dart leg, match it with the other, and tape in place.  Do the same for the yoke piece.  The changes to the yoke piece are so small, I didn't bother taking out the excess.  I haven't had a problem with fitting the waistband to the yoke.
  

curved waistband

As I was writing this post, I thought more about how this method affects this particular waistband.  The Jalie waistband is designed to be cut into two pieces, sewn at the center back, and then joined to the pants front/back.  Then, it's folded lengthwise and topstitched.  So the waist seam is in the center of the piece.

So the amount removed is actually less than planned since the dart isn't as wide in this area.  I never realized this until now.  This may explain why my waistband still gapes a bit.  I will have to address this in future pairs of jeans.

I hope this was helpful!

L